Category Archives: United States Research

As I mentioned previously it was the addition of a new member to our facebook site that kicked off all this manic research, mainly because the family connected, however distantly, to my own Happ ancestry in Bavaria. Keith had written that his mother’s grandfather was a Julius Happ and they knew he came from Dorfprozelten because of a document the family held. On translation it turned out to be some form of recognition for Julius Happ in recruiting conscripts. As yet we know no more about that….perhaps, as Keith said facetiously, he did his best recruiting in the family’s inn late at night <smile>.

Julius was the son of Michael Happ and Anna Catharina Zöller born/baptised on 11 November 1844. Michael was interesting because his occupation is stated as Ökonom or economist, as well as being the guest house keeper for the Fröhlichkeit which he had built from local stone. He was also Bürgermeister between 1856 until 1864.[i]

Julius Happ in Germany

Apart from what can be extracted from the local history, it is difficult to get a sense of Julius’s life in Germany. As we’ll see later Julius didn’t emigrate until he was around 30 years of age. My searching of the German newspapers on Google Books did turn up some references to his education however. The initial one is high school information, as for his brother Raimund. Dating from 1864/65, he would have been 21….which does seem old.[ii] He is studying religion, the Latin, Greek, German and French languages, Mathematics, History and Geography.

The second is more obviously university enrolment and I think it indicates he was enrolled in the faculty of law.[iii] This is for the winter semester 1867/68 when Julius would have been nearly 23. Perhaps this explains why he delayed his emigration to the USA.

When I sent this information to Keith he remarked that the family had oral history that Julius had a degree from Germany and this notice seems to confirm that story.

Emigration to “America” and naturalisation

The local history, Dorfprozelten Teil II, indicates that Julius emigrated from Bavaria to “America” but no date is given. Despite searching a variety of sites I have been unable to locate his arrival and I’ve also been unable to locate an emigration notice in the German newspapers, as I could for his siblings Raimund and Anna.

I also checked that Julius hadn’t arrived with his siblings but he certainly didn’t travel on the ship Main with them. It doesn’t help that he gives varying dates of arrival on the census enumerations.

One possibility in terms of Julius’s arrival is Julius Hopp from Bremen on the Marco Polo, aged 24, a labourer, arriving in New York 3 March 1873[iv]. There is no other distinguishing information and given his varied responses on the census it’s difficult to be sure. I really don’t think we can be sure this is him rather than another.

Julius didn’t become a naturalised American citizen until 8 October 1894[v], much later brother Raymond. This search highlights the importance of accessing multiple sites as I found it only on Family Search. There are noticeable gaps in the details on the form and I wonder if the original document might include further details re his immigration.

Ties to the country of their birth, the kingdom of Bavaria, was understandably strong in some of the emigrants, though it weakened the longer they lived in their new country, and also as Bavaria became part of a new federated Germany. My own ancestor arrived in Australia in the 1850s and wasn’t naturalised until 1903, after Australia had become an independent nation.

Unfortunately because Julius hadn’t been naturalised earlier he also doesn’t appear on the voter registers – something my George Kunkel seemed to work around here, but in the USA they seem to have asked when and where you were naturalised.

Julius Happ in the USA

Julius Happ has been elusive in the US records from his immigration in the 1870s until I found him on the 1885 Rhode Island state census. He is living at North Kingstown, County of Washington, Rhode Island, is 40 years old, unmarried, boarding with the Horsfall family and working as a florist[vi].

Nor can I find a record of his marriage or his children’s births, except via their death entries on the Social Security Death Indexes (SSDI). According to Cyndi’s List, there is no 1890 Federal US census for Connecticut which explains that omission. As with any research, we are limited by the records which survive. Fortunately the City Directories go a good way to overcome that as we’ll see later.

I had more joy with later census enumerations. In the1910 Federal Census Julius Happ is on the Federal Census in Bridgeport, District Fairfield, Connecticut (CT). He is 62 and a florist, working in a hot house. Julius is married to Regina (52) and his children are Mary (22), Chas (21) and Julius (14), all born Connecticut. They also have two boarders in the house as well as a nephew (his or hers?), a Frank A Will (10) born Delaware. On this record Julius snr says he immigrated in 1876 and has been naturalised, while Regina arrived in 1874.[vii]. If we knew Regina’s maiden name we might be able to find her immigration.

In the 1920 Federal Census the family is still in Bridgeport (ward 5) and his year of immigration has changed to 1870 and Regina’s to 1872. The “children” are now 32, 29, and 24 and they still have two lodgers in the house, both Russian-born. Daughter Mary’s name is recorded as Marie. Julius is 73 and retired, while Regina is 52[viii].

The mis-reported 1900 census enumeration. The other children are on the next page. They are living at 1941 Fairfield Ave.

After some difficulty I found Julius and his family in the1900 Federal census, using the information from earlier census enumerations. The surname had been mis-transcribed as Hepp and Regina’s name as Vrechina. Julius then states he was 47 and born Nov 1852 (think he kept the month but changed the year – or the enumerator made a mistake). I wonder if he said he was 52 not born in 1852. Regina is 33, born Oct 1866, Mary is born Aug 1887, and Carl in March 1889. Son Paul (another enumerator error, actually Julius), is born August 1895. The couple had been married 13 years and had three children, all alive. Julius now says he’d arrived in 1878 and had been in the USA 22 years.[ix]

Julius Happ in the Bridgeport City Directories 1884-1923

This photograph appears in Dorfprozelten Teil II, page 229 with a caption indicating that the people were Julius Happ, his wife and child.

City directories can be of variable use in family history but the listings for Julius were particularly helpful given his late naturalisation. I was able to trace his activities fairly consistently between the late 1880s until his death, using the Bridgeport City Directories.

One interesting early anomaly is that Julius appears as a gardener employed by J Horan, bds Fairfield Ave and RR crossing per the 1884 Directory. Remember that he was in Rhode Island in 1885? Did he just move briefly?

In 1887 he is again listed with J Horan as an employee at 647 Fairfield Ave. But in 1888, the directory notes he’d removed to New York. Unfortunately I couldn’t track him down there. Is this when he married Regina?

Bridgeport City Directory 1888, page 158

Shortly after, in 1890, he’s back in Bridgeport, once again living and working at J Horan’s florists and nursery at 647 Fairfield Ave. This continues through the 90s as the firm becomes J Horan and Son. It seems throughout this time he’s living on the nursery premises as in 1895 the street directory for 647 Fairfield shows the residents as Charles Barey, Julius Happ, and Louis Wittman all employees of J Horan & Son as well as James Horan, florist and a John Puzak. Also from 1896, Julius is no longer listed as an employee but a foreman.

I suppose if you’re in the florist business it’s not surprising to advertise amidst all the undertakers’ advertisements.

In 1900 the business, and Julius’s residence, has changed to 1941 Fairfield Avenue and this is where he continues until 1913 when he is listed as a foreman at J Horan & Son and living at 1782 State Street, grocer. This listing continues until 1916 with the combination of foreman and grocer….perhaps Regina was running a grocery business? From the census it’s clear this was a rental property.

In 1916 the family relocated to 1796 State Street, and this would become their permanent residence, and one the family owned. Although then 74 years old, Julius was again listed as a gardener. He had worked for James Horan and son Stephen from 1884 until at least 1916, with only a couple of years absences. When you think that he had studied at university level in Germany, you have to wonder whether some immigrants really did benefit from the great American (or Australian!) dream.

A Google Earth search reveals that these locations have been cleared.

I found it strange that on the City Directories, a person’s date of death is listed with their age.Julius’s appears on the 1923 directory and his wife Regina’s on the 1933 directory (page 273)

Deaths in the USA

Julius Happ snr died on 22 September 1924, aged 79 years, 10 months and 11 days per his funeral notice[x]. By my calculations this fits with his known date of birth/baptism in Dorfprozelten, and interestingly contradicts the stated ages on the census.

Julius’s wife Regina died on 2 August 1933 aged 65, which I found in the City Directories[xi], but unfortunately I could find no reference in newspapers.

Julius and Regina’s family continued to live in the Bridgeport and Trumbull areas for many years.

Research warning: Searching German newspapers on Google books is fraught. I find it quite difficult to get the same results from the same search, which makes no sense. You just have to be lateral as I mentioned in my post about this some time ago.

Thanks for following along on this post about the Happ family who emigrated to the USA.

Translation: If you would like to read this post in a different language you can click here.

Emigration of Raimund/Raymond Happ

As we know from the previous post, Raimund emigrated with his sister Anna Apollonia in 1869. He was only seventeen but in those days that made him ready to work and take such a huge step. Addendum: Since my initial post, I’ve found education records for Raimund which show that he had only just finished school when he emigrated. I assume it was at the secondary school level given his age. He had been studying, as far as I can tell, at the High School in Würzburg and these were his results for 1866/67. I have no idea what the scores mean but his subjects were religion, Latin, Greek, German, arithmetic, history and geography.

I had also previously searched the German newspapers (under Google Books), for the emigration notice of Raimund and Anna’s departure. These searches are neither straightforward or predictable but I did manage to find it fairly easily (I just forgot to add it to their stories yesterday!)

Anna and Raimund arrived in New York on 6 October 1869. Raymond (note spelling change) remained in New York for a few years and presumably lived with his sister for some of them. In 1873, the year he turned 21, he became a citizen of the United States of America. At the time he was living at 400 First Avenue and working as a barber. George Eckhardt was his witness.[i]

Two years later Raymond Happ was on the voters’ register of the 12th Ward in San Francisco, having registered on 29 July 1875.[ii] In 1888, he is registered as living at 419 O’Farrell St (on the 2nd floor).[iii] The 1892 registers would be something of a gold mine for his descendants as it documents his physical characteristics: he is 40 years old, German-born, 5 feet 6¾ inches tall, with medium complexion, hazel eyes and black hair, though the next entry states he is bald. He is still living at O’Farrell St but his naturalisation date is incorrectly noted as 1878 not 1873.[iv]

It took me a while to locate Raymond in other records and only through searching for “Happ” + b1852. It seems he’d changed his name, or reverted to his full name, Charles R Happ. This may well account for why his brother Julius named his own son, Charles. These Germans can be tricky <smile>

Having pinned down the change of name, there was a surfeit of information on Charles and only one anomaly. On the 1875 City Directory for San Francisco, soon after his arrival, he is listed as a carpenter living at the Columbia Hotel[v]. In all other instances he is shown as a barber so perhaps it was just the work he could get when he first arrived on the west coast…he had “gone west, young man”. The nice thing is that the 1891 entry in the city directories ties Charles R Happ to Raymond Happ, as the address in common is 419 O’Farrell St.

Because Charles was in business he appears by name and business in many of the digitised editions of the San Francisco City Directories (in Australia we call them Post Office Directories usually). He, and the business, moved often enough, but frequently within the same street.

The first time we find him working as a barber in San Francisco is 1878. His employers were Oppenheim & Stieber and he was living at 519 Octavia St. In 1883 he was at 915½ Market St working with Strecker and Kern, barbers, but by 1891 he had gone into partnership with John Ulrich Gingg at 116 Kearny St.

Pinned places of residence and work for Charles and Ida Happ. Prepared with Google Earth.

By 1896 Charles had moved to 20 Hollis Street and Happ & Gingg to 102 Geary (1900-1905). Obviously Hollis Street suited Charles as his next move was up to 64 Hollis. From 1905-1909 Charles is residing at 56 Hollis, only a few doors away but the business moved to 414 Divisadero St in 1907 then 2 Mason (1909-1911).

After a brief stop at 1522 Fulton St in 1910 and 814 Cole St in 1911, Charles and his wife Ida moved on to 18th Avenue where it seems they settled indefinitely, living first in number 778 until about 1913, then at number 770 (1921-1940). In the latter years the business name has become Kern and Happ at 1488 Fulton St, so it seems possible that he was perhaps preparing for retirement as by then he was nearing 70. It’s also interesting that the business included a Kern, the same name as the person he worked for in 1883.

This is 18th Avenue, San Francisco, very near numbers 770 and 778. Prepared with Google Earth Street View.

But what of the census records? Do they match with the directories? Luckily for me they do! Each entry tells us just a little more about the couple. In 1900, Charles specifies he was born in Bavaria while Ida was born Germany. They had been naturalised in 1875 and 1886 respectively and had been in the country 25 and 14 years. In 1900 and 1910 they were renting their home. They had been married 23 years (est YOM 1886/87), and had no children. Unfortunately I’ve had no joy in locating their marriage.

Charles is listed as an employer in 1910 and 1920 and a proprietor of a barber shop in 1930. At that time they owned their own home and also owned a radio –a sign of technological change, or was there another reason for this question.

By 1940 Charles had finally retired, not surprising since he was now 88. Both had studied to Grade 8 level and could read and write.

Newspaper articles are frustrating in their absence, or requirement for subscriptions, and even though I have several there’s ones I can’t see. However the free site, Chronicling America, reveals the non-working side of the Happs’ lifestyle with holidays at Hoberg’s Resort on 22 August 1897 and again in July 1902.[vi] Combined with the apparent ambience of 18th Avenue, it seems the couple had made a success of their immigrant lives.

Another little snippet came to light through The San Francisco Call with the listing of land transfers in April 1906. What’s particularly interesting is a transfer of land from John Juedes to Ida, wife of Charles R Happ in April 1906:lot on E line of 18th Avenue 150N of Fulton St, N25 by E120 $10.

Charles R Happ died on 30 December 1943, aged 91 at Alameda, California[vii]. The registers show his birth as 21 January 1852, compared to 23 January 1852 for his birth/baptism in Dorfprozelten (baptism usually occurred on the day of birth). His wife Ida had predeceased him in San Francisco on 11 June 1941, aged 87. Her date of birth is listed as 18 October 1854 and her father’s surname as Maas. They are buried at the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, San Mateo County, California.[viii]

By the time of their deaths their new nation was again involved in a world war. As with my own George Kunkel I can’t begin to imagine how distressing it was for them to be a lightning rod for anti-German sentiment for the second time.

Oh, and by the way, how lucky are we Aussies to have Trove…just imagine what might have been found in a similar site.

———————————

[i] National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906 (M1674); Microfilm Serial: M1674; Microfilm Roll: 99. From Ancestry.com

[v] Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. All entries for Charles R Happ are in the San Francisco directories.

Translation: If you would like to read this post in a different language you can click here.

Some time ago I set up a Facebook page, The Dorfprozelten Diaspora, for those whose ancestors came from this Bavarian village. New members to the group are asked for their link to the village and who their ancestors were.

The village of Dorfprozelten is situated on the River Main which formed the boundary between Bavaria and Baden.

Two weekends ago a new member, Keith, joined the group and to my delight it seems likely that we are distant cousins. Keith’s family had a German certificate which was translated as “some sort of acknowledgement for having conscripted others, not his own conscription record”. This document indicated his great-grandfather had been born in Dorfprozelten.

We’ve still got to achieve further verification via death/marriage certificates but so far the indications are that Keith and my Dad share a 5th great grandparent, Adam Happ. Admittedly, at this distance it seems such a tenuous connection but thanks to the wonderful German record-keeping and the oft-lauded local history, Dorfprozelten Teil II by Georg Veh[i], it’s actually possible to link families up over three centuries, and to track their history.

I’ve “fixed” my header photo for these posts so you can see what the village looks like in context.

Meanwhile in Bavaria

Das Goldene Fass before its demolition for a bank in the 1960s. Image kindly provided by Georg Veh.

The Happ family were one of the early inn-keeper families in Dorfprozelten, and their ownership dates back at least to circa 1750 when (Johann) Martin Happ ran Das Goldene Fass. This Martin’s son, another Johann Martin Happ II, inherited it from him, followed by Johann Martin II’s daughter, Eva Catharina later Ulrich and Kunkel, my own 3xgreat grandmother.

Meanwhile just across the street, Martin’s brother, Johann Happ was running the Gasthaus zum Anker. Johann and Martin’s father was Adam Happ but his occupation is unknown. The Anker passed from Johann to his son Nikolaus Happ, then was transferred to the family of Johann Anton Zöller…who knows why…perhaps it’s part of the German text I’m struggling with.

Die Fröhlichkeit in 2003.

In the 1860s, Nikolaus’s son Michael Happ established a new guesthouse called DieFröhlichkeit, built from the local pink sandstone taken from the cliffs adjoining the village. Michael is documented as an economist as well as a guesthouse keeper, which I think is quite interesting…how did it come to be that he was an economist at that time? Where had he studied? Other references in Veh’s book indicate that Michael was fairly well off and also served as Bürgermeister (mayor) from 1856-1863.

Michael Happ married Catharina Zöller and had the following children who survived to adulthood: Anna Apollonia (1835-1892) emigrated to USA; Maria Antonia (1840-1915) who took over the guesthouse; Julius (1844-1923) emigrated USA; Ernst (1847-1865); Corbinian (1849-1905) and Raimund (1852-) emigrated to USA.

In such a small village as Dorfprozelten everyone would have known each other, and I assume, also known their relationships. This interests me especially because Anna Apollonia was almost exactly a year younger than my 2xgreat grandfather Georg Matthias Kunkel so not only would they have known each other, they may have played together and also attended school together.

Emigration to America

Siblings Anna and Raimund Happ emigrated to the USA and newspaper notices of 30 August 1869 indicate their imminent departure from their home village.

Initially I couldn’t help wondering why Anna didn’t stay to take over the running of the inn. However, the discovery of Anna’s marriage to another Dorfprozelten emigrant, Franz Michael Scheubner, made it apparent why she had decided to leave her home village.

The marriage occurred in New York on 24 October 1869, shortly after Anna’s arrival. It is indexed in the New York Marriages 1686-1980 under Scheibner, a further reference to Veh’s book clearly correlated to Scheubner rather than Scheibner: his parents were Sebastian Scheibner and Anna Maria Rheinthaler and Anna’s are also correctly shown as Michael Happ and Catherine Zöller.

Like many Germans, Franz Michael was more typically known by his second name, Michael, and this is how he appears in records in the US, other than his immigration record. He arrived in New York on the ship Union, on 8 May 1869, aged 30, and this document[ii] uses Franz, probably because this is how his baptism was recorded.

So now my question is why Anna brought her younger brother, Raimund, with her when she emigrated, rather than why she herself emigrated.

Life in America

It seems from all the records I’ve found that the couple lived in Manhattan through their life together.

In the 1870 US Federal census[iii], Michael and Anna were living in New York Ward 17, District 21. Michael was shown as a cook. Their surname has been misindexed as Scheibner.

By the 1880 Federal census[iv], Michael and Anna had two children, Frederick Scheubner aged 4 and Kathe aged 1 (probably Catherine after her mother) and were living on the east side of 16th Street, Manhattan. There were plenty of Bavarians living close by but it’s interesting that Michael showed their origins as German. Michael was working as a cook in a hotel and had dropped 7 years from his age.

Despite my best efforts and searching across multiple sites, I have been unable to locate any of the Scheubner family in the 1890 Federal census or the 1892 New York census. I am assuming that it has been mis-indexed, though even using wildcards or first names they have still eluded me. As it’s not my direct family I’ve had to put it aside for now rather than spend more time on it.

I have had more joy with City Directories. In the 1879 New York City Directories Michael Scheubner (a cook) is registered as living at 191 Orchard and in 1888 at 104 1st Street and was a cook. In 1894 he is registered as Mich’l Scheubner and he has an eating house at 61 Grand (see below) and a residence at 48 Grand. In later directories (1902, 1903 and 1906) he is at 61 Grand.[v]

On the 1900 census I found a Michael Scheubner living with his wife Katie at 61 Grand St between Wooster St and West Broadway, Manhattan[vi]. Michael is 50 and lists his birthdate as August 1849 (rather than July 1838) and arrived in the USA in 1870, having been there for 30 years. Katie, his wife, is also German-born and enumerated as aged 30, even though she supposedly arrived in 1869 and had been in the US for 31 years….obviously some error there. They had been married eight years (soon after Anna’s death in 1892?) and had two children, but neither was alive. Michael is working as a cook, which is why it’s tempting to think he’s the right man.

I’m curious, too, whether it is this Michael Scheubner who is a 38 year old (est YOB 1839) passenger on the Weser to New York in 1877. He is a cook and an American citizen. Is this our guy going back to Germany to see family, then returning?[vii]

Oops forgot this before…the Manhattan residences of the Scheubners.

And deaths in America

I knew from Dorfprozelten Teil II (page 229) that Anna Happ (Scheubner) had died on 14 February 1892 in the USA, though there is no mention of her married name. Indexes on Ancestry record her death on 12 February 1892, aged 56 in Manhattan.[viii]She died the day after her 56th birthday.

It seems it may be “our” Michael who died in 1905, also in Manhattan, aged 63[ix]. Michael is rather more prone to providing variable dates of birth.

[viii] Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Death Index, 1862-1948 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.Original data: Index to New York City Deaths 1862-1948. Indices prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and used with permission of the New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. Certificate 5447 can be ordered.

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